Just Good Friends
by iFlipForRizzles
Summary: "There was a small jolt in Harry's stomach, and not for the first time he was confused with Ginny Weasley. But one thing was for sure. She definitely wasn't the same blushing little girl he'd known for years." Takes place in OotP. Title subject to change.
1. Michael and Dean

_**AN: So, a lot of you have been confused about Ginny's relationships, so I decided to come back here and post this AN. I know that in the books Ginny is with Michael in the fifth book, but this is a fanfiction, and for my story I need her to be with Dean in the fifth book. That's why I posted this prologue. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters, places, or quotes I used from the books. **_

_December 25 – Yule Ball_

"Would you care to dance?"

Ginny glanced up from her 'conversation' with Lavender Brown, relieved to have an excuse to stop listening to the older girl drone on about the various potions she'd tried to treat split ends. She was only talking to her because Neville had stepped rather hard on one of her toes, and shortly after they'd sat down Seamus and Lavender had joined them. Ginny had tried to get Neville to dance with her three times since then (surely a few broken toes wouldn't be as bad as listening to Lavender for another hour), but he was too absorbed in a conversation with Seamus about some exploding plant they'd learned about in herbology.

Lavender had finally fallen silent with the arrival of the unknown boy. The unknown, _handsome_ boy, Ginny corrected herself after taking in his attractive face and longish, dark hair. He was staring at Ginny, waiting for her to answer his question.

"Um, sure. I mean, if it's alright with my date." She said the last part loud enough for Neville to hear, turning to look at him.

After a few seconds, Seamus noticed Ginny and the other boy looking at Neville and nudged him in the shoulder, pointing to them.

"Would you mind if I danced with-" she paused, realizing she never got the boy's name.

"Michael," he filled in for her. "Michael Corner."

"Michael?" Ginny finished.

Neville looked surprised, but not hurt that Ginny wanted to dance with another boy. They were just friends, and he felt bad that he'd been stepping on her feet all night. "Oh, no, of course not."

Ginny flashed him a grateful smile, which he returned before turning back to his conversation with Seamus. Feeling utterly relieved, Ginny stood up and followed Michael onto the dance floor, leaving behind a shocked Lavender, who jumped up from the table shortly after without a word to Seamus and ran off to share this latest bit of gossip with Parvati and Padma.

"So I was wondering," Michael began, as he and Ginny stood in the Entrance Hall towards the end of the Ball.

The evening had turned around completely once she met Michael. They danced and laughed, and at one point he even went to get her a drink. He was charming, funny, and cute too.

_Not like Harry, though_, she couldn't help but think. Michael's dark hair lay flat on his head, not a piece out of place. And his eyes were a plain old shade of brown, unlike Harry's incredible green eyes.

But Harry wasn't interested in her, she reminded herself, and probably never would be. Michael, however, seemed _very_ interested in her. At one point during the evening, he mentioned that he'd noticed her around school a few times, and he thought she was cute. No one had ever said that to her before.

"Would you like to go with me on the next Hogsmeade trip?"

His question took Ginny by surprise. Was she being asked out on a date? An actual date? Her first reaction was to decline. She was only thirteen, and not to mention utterly infatuated with someone else. Then she remembered the advice Hermione had given her last summer, when they'd stayed up late one night talking.

Hermione told Ginny to be more herself around Harry, to relax and not act like all the other people that he meets, the ones that get all star-struck. She said maybe if Ginny showed interest in some other boys, she might either be able to move on from Harry or make him interested in her. _"People want what they can't have,"_ Hermione had said matter-of-factly. Ginny wouldn't get her hopes up for that, though. Her goal was to move on from her stupid crush and maybe be able to become friends with Harry.

And Michael was cute, and funny, and charming. So, why not?

"Sure, that'd be great," she responded, grinning.

He returned her smile. "Great. See you later, then." He leaned down and pressed his lips softly to her cheek, and with a last smile he turned around and started making his way to the Ravenclaw common room, leaving behind a stunned and blushing Ginny.

The first few months with Michael were wonderful for Ginny. He would find her at random moments in the halls, a lot of the time walking her to class and carrying her bag for her. When they went to Hogsmeade in February he asked her to be his girlfriend, and of course she said yes.

Her brothers, predictably, were not happy about their baby sister having a boyfriend. Fred and George expressed their displeasure with endless amounts of teasing, to the point where she avoided being in the same room as them at all costs.

Ron's approach was more direct, and explosive.

"What do you need a boyfriend, for, anyway? You're way too young!"

"Ron, just because you're too immature to be in a relationship doesn't mean the rest of the world is!" Ginny had shouted back at him before storming angrily out of the Gryffindor Common Room, leaving her brother behind gaping like a fish.

And of course he'd sent a letter to their mum, and it was only a few days after their shouting match that Errol arrived at breakfast with a very stern letter from Mrs. Weasley telling Ginny that she felt her daughter was too young to be in a relationship, but if she really wanted to have a boyfriend to be careful, and not to do anything she didn't want to do.

Poor Ginny had spent the rest of the day with a blush on her cheeks, stuck there as though her mother had sent along a Permanent Sticking Charm in the letter.

It was a few weeks after that, Ginny supposed, that things started to go south.

It was about a month into their relationship when Ginny realized Michael rarely walked with her to classes anymore. They really only met up on the weekends, and those moments were rather brief; no more than a few hours at a time. They had actually seen more of each other before they became boyfriend and girlfriend.

And then, the times that they were together, all Michael seemed to want to do was snog. Ginny would try to start conversations with him, but after only a few minutes Michael would cut her off with a kiss, thoroughly distracting her for a while, because he was very good at kissing. It was later, when they were apart, that she'd realize what he'd done and she'd get angry about it. But whenever she tried to bring it up, he'd apologize quickly, and then the cycle would repeat.

One infamous blow-up of hers happened in the library, sometime at the beginning of May. They had managed to hold a ten minute conversation while browsing through the aisles (Ginny was looking for a book she would need to reference in her History of Magic essay) before Michael got impatient with talking and started snogging her.

Things were fine, until his hand started moving south from her waist. Ginny pulled away immediately, glaring up at Michael.

"What are you doing?" Though phrased as a question, her tone was accusing.

"I was just, you know, moving things along," he said defensively.

"In the middle of the library?" she hissed, the temper she'd inherited from her mother flaring quickly. He looked sideways, guiltily. "Besides, we're too young!"

"Excuse me?" He sounded insulted. "I turned fifteen weeks ago! You're the young one!"

Her eyebrows rose in disbelief. "That may be true, but clearly I'm the only one here who's mature."

And, feeling very proud of herself, she stormed away from a bewildered Michael and left the library, her book forgotten.

After a few days of avoiding each other, Michael found Ginny on her way to Transfiguration and apologized for his forwardness, laying on the charm he'd won her over with at the Yule Ball. She forgave him, a bit begrudgingly, and from that point on Michael spent more time talking to her than before.

Things were pretty good, until the day of the Third Task, when Michael showed up at breakfast wearing one of the old Support Cedric Diggory badges. That was the final straw for Ginny.

"Are you serious? You realize Harry's in my house, and that he's my friend, right?" she asked, as though she were talking to a stupid person.

"Cedric is the better champion, everyone knows it!" was his, in Ginny's opinion, pathetic excuse.

"Well then maybe you should be dating Cedric."

Ron, Fred, and George praised their sister for ending things with, "that great stupid prat", and, when Mrs. Weasley and Bill arrived to support Harry for the final task, Bill agreed with his brothers while Mrs. Weasley once again expressed to Ginny that she was too young to be in such a serious relationship.

Her family wasn't the only ones happy about the breakup. Ginny felt relieved afterwards, which made her wonder why she hadn't done it sooner. She didn't have to wonder for long. The answer was never far from her thoughts. Harry Potter.

Michael had been unable to thoroughly distract her from her stupid crush on her brother's best friend. She'd continued to hope that if she was with Michael long enough, her unrequited feelings for Harry would fade. But every morning at breakfast her eyes would catch sight of him and set her heart all a flutter. It was starting to get on her nerves.

But some part of her plan had apparently worked in her favor, because that night at dinner, when Harry was being ushered out of the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall, she managed a loud and cheerful, "Good luck!" without blushing or stammering or embarrassing herself in anyway. Was it possible she was cured?

She was still thinking of all the wonderful possibilities of a life of not being awkward around Harry Potter on her way down to the Quidditch Pitch a few minutes later when she accidentally bumped into someone stopped on the path.

"I'm so sorry!" she said to the boy she'd almost knocked over, mentally scolding herself for not paying attention.

"It's fine," the boy she'd run into replied politely. "Oh, hey Ginny."

The boy was Dean Thomas, a Gryffindor fourth year. She'd seen him around the common room before, but they'd never stopped and had a conversation or anything.

But that was about to change, she realized, as she set off once again down the path and Dean followed, still talking.

"So what were you thinking about so hard back there that caused you to almost run me over?" Ginny blushed, but didn't respond, and that only intrigued him more. "Ok, don't tell me. But actually, you know, now that I think about it, my ribs are starting to feel it where you shoulder-checked me earlier." She rolled her eyes, but unwillingly, the corner of her mouth started to curve up. He pressed on his rib and pretended to wince severely. "Ooh, ow! I think it might be broken."

"Ok, fine!" she conceded, laughing. "I was thinking about, about how I spent the last few months trying to make something work that, in the end, wasn't worth it." She wasn't really lying. That topic had been what started her on the thoughts to a possible friendship with the boy of her dreams.

"Oh right, I heard you broke up with Michael Corner." There was an awkward pause as the two continued talking. "I'm sorry it didn't work out." But in fact, he didn't sound sorry at all.

"Why are you even talking to me?" she asked. He looked taken aback, and she felt bad for the sharp tone she'd used. "I mean, it's not like we've ever talked before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything, right?"

"That didn't answer my question."

"I dunno. You're interesting."

Well that wasn't what she was expecting to hear. She wasn't sure how to take that. "Um, thanks?"

He grinned at her, and that rest of their walk to the Quidditch Pitch was spent in much more pleasant conversation.

Dean asked her out just before they boarded the train in Hogsmeade.

"I, I don't know how much we'll see of each other," she evaded, stalling for time.

"Yea, I know. But we could write." When she still didn't answer him, he pressed, "I'm really interested in you, and I'd like to get to know you better."

After a few more seconds of consideration, and not being able to think of an adequate reason to say no, she finally answered, "Yea, ok, I guess I'll go out with you." The grin he flashed her made her feel a little more secure with her decision. "But I promised my brothers I'd sit with them on the train, so we'll have to say goodbye here." She pecked him quickly on the lips, muttered a quick goodbye, and then left him standing on the platform, looking completely shocked that she'd kissed him.

Ginny had hoped to keep this relationship a secret from her family, at least until the start of the next term, but then Fred and George started a bashing session on Michael. Ginny was fine with this, even laughing at some of their jokes, until Hermione piped in.

"I heard he's been trying to 'comfort' Cho ever since… well, you know."

The corners of Harry's mouth turned down in a frown, whether at the mention of the Third Task or at someone else being interested in Cho, Ginny couldn't tell. She hoped it was the former.

"He's an idiot," Ginny agreed hoping to end the conversation.

Ron, however, did not take the hint. "Yea, well, just choose someone - better - next time," he practically demanded, and sent a not so subtle glance at Harry.

Ginny's temper flared, and before she could stop the words from leaving her mouth she said, "Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas, would you say he's better?"

Ron, Fred, and George didn't leave her alone for the rest of the trip.

_**Ok, so now that I've got Ginny's relationships in order, the next chapter is when things will really get started. Thanks for reading. Please review!**_

_**~Jazz~**_


	2. Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters, places, or quotes I used from the books. **_

_**Starts in the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter Four, just after Harry gets done shouting.**_

Harry glared at Hermione, and then Ron, still breathing deeply. He needed to be alone for a while, to clear his head and cool down. He turned from his friends and stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him, cutting off his friends' attempts to call him back.

It wasn't until he was in the hall that he realized he had no idea where to go next. He'd never been in this house before. He decided that his best move would be to go back downstairs. He could sit in the long, gloomy hallway on the ground floor. At least it would fit his mood. And with everyone in one of the mysterious meetings, he thought bitterly, the hallway was sure to be deserted.

And so he was taken by surprise when he reached the ground floor and spotted a small figure crouched at the other end of the hall. Taking in the long, flaming red hair, he realized it was Ginny Weasley.

"Hey, Harry," she greeted in a voice hardly louder than a whisper, barely turning her head. She appeared to be concentrating hard on something.

After a long, confused moment on Harry's part, he finally asked, "Er, how did you know it was me?"

"I could hear you shouting and slamming doors from down here. I'm surprised you didn't wake _her_ up."

"Her?" he asked curiously, following Ginny's lead and keeping his voice low.

"Oh, just an angry portrait," she answered distractedly, and the next moment a soft _thunk_ sounded from her direction. She sighed disappointedly and finally turned to face Harry and his still very confused expression. "I was flicking dungbombs at the kitchen door to see if mum had put an Imperturable Charm on it," she explained, moving away from the stairs and over towards Harry. "She has," she added dejectedly.

"Oh, er, that's too bad," he replied, unsure of what else to say.

There was a moment of silence in which Harry considered going back upstairs. He wasn't completely calmed down, but Ginny's unexpected dungbomb activities had distracted him enough where he felt he could talk to Ron and Hermione without losing his head again.

Just as he was about to awkwardly make his leave, however, Ginny said, "I know how it feels, you know." Harry's brow wrinkled in confusion. "To be kept out of the loop," she clarified.

"You've been here," Harry argued, feeling his earlier anger prick once more. He wanted to point out that she had been there all summer, keeping busy and being surrounded by wizards and witches involved in fighting Lord Voldemort. He wanted to remind her that while she had been doing all of that, he'd been stuck in Little Whinging, hiding out in flower beds, listening to muggle news.

He wanted to say all of this, but Ginny was quicker to respond. "I'm not talking about this past month. I'm talking about my life. I'm the baby sister to six over-protective brothers, the baby girl to over-protective parents. And then I get to school where you, Ron, and Hermione always seem to know more about things than anyone else, even the teachers. The three of you have done so much, and you especially, while the rest of us just sit by and watch."

Harry looked down at his shoes, suddenly feeling horrible with himself. Ginny was right. He had been involved with so many things in his career as a wizard, way more than anyone else his age, and the one time he's not included he starts screaming and lashing out at his best friends. And then there was Ginny, who had had to sit by for three years and watch her older brother and his two friends go off on some incredible adventures, and she'd never said a word about it.

"Wow, I really have been a prat, huh?"

"Yea, a bit," she agreed, but there was a smirk on her lips that told Harry not to take her too seriously. "I wasn't saying any of that to make you feel bad, though. I was just pointing out that I know how frustrating it can be."

"I'm sorry we've never included you Ginny," Harry said sincerely. When she wasn't all blushing and quiet and sending him singing cards, Harry realized Ginny was actually pretty fun to be around.

"It's fine, I understand. Ron will always see me as his baby sister, and you still see me as the little girl you rescued from the Chamber of Secrets two years ago."

Harry wanted to disagree, but if he was being honest she was right. To him, Ginny was still the shy, star struck little girl he'd known since he was twelve. But looking at her now, taking in her cute, playful smirk and the kind understanding in her chocolate-brown eyes, he realized she _had _grown up. Hell, they'd just had a full conversation, in which she had done the majority of the talking, and not once had she blushed or stuttered.

"You're right. I guess I haven't realized how much you've grown up, Ginny. I'm sorry."

"Thanks," she replied lamely, not knowing what else to say. After a brief awkward pause, she added, "I think I better go let Fred and George know about the Imperturable Charm."

"And I should probably go apologize to Ron and Hermione."

The two made their way up the stairs in companionable silence, Harry following Ginny's lead in tiptoeing up the stairs. When they made it to the second floor landing, they heard an audible_ CRACK_, followed by Hermione berating Fred and George's apparent Apparation into the room. Ginny followed Harry into his and Ron's bedroom.

Ron and Hermione immediately bombarded Harry with apologies, which he blew off and instead apologized himself for his earlier outburst, while Ginny slipped quietly in behind him and over to his bed, spreading her tiny self out casually, as if she'd been sitting there for quite some time.

"Hello, Harry," greeted Fred from his perch on Ron's bed.

"We thought we heard your dulcet tones," added George, who was also sitting on Ron's bed.

"We didn't even bother betting whether or not it was you we heard shouting," continued Fred.

"It would've been pointless, see, since we were both so sure it was you," finished George.

Harry rolled his eyes at their teasing, plopping down on his bed next to Ginny. "What were you two doing downstairs anyway?" Fred asked curiously, gesturing to the two of them, a hint of big brother over-protectiveness creeping into his voice. Ron, who had joined the twins on his bed, and George straightened up slightly.

Once again, Ginny was the quicker of the two to respond, but this time Harry really wished she hadn't been. "Oh that. Harry just came down to confess his undying love for me, and then we proceeded to snog each other senseless."

She said the statement with such conviction that for the wildest second Harry wondered if that had, in fact, been what had happened. But then his senses returned to him, and he remembered what had actually happened. The quick wink Ginny sent him may have helped too.

But none of these things stopped the blush rising to Harry's face at Ginny's story. What was more surprising was her _lack_ of blushing. Who _was_ this girl?

Looking around, Harry noticed that the others seemed even more gullible than him. Hermione's mouth was agape, and she was staring at Harry with a mixture of hurt and joy on her face. Fred and George looked slightly dangerous, something Harry had never associated with the normally light-hearted boys before.

It was Ron, surprisingly, who broke the silence first.

"Oh, shut up, Ginny." Of course Ron wouldn't believe her. Harry was his best friend! He would've told Ron if he'd been harboring something like that… right? "Besides, aren't you still dating Dean?" Ron spat out the boy's name as if it were a nasty curse word.

This time, a slight hint of color rose to Ginny's cheeks. "It's none of your business who I'm currently snogging, thank you very much."

"Gee, as fascinating as this conversation is," Fred interrupted sarcastically, "how about we switch to a topic that doesn't involve our little sister and snogging?"

Harry found that he agreed with Fred, though he wasn't quite sure why. All he knew was that the combination of Dean, Ginny, and snogging made him feel rather ill. He found himself understanding Ron's earlier usage of Dean's name as a curse word.

"Ginny, what did you find out?" Harry heard Fred ask, and returned his attention back to the room and away from his confusing thoughts about Dean and Ginny.

She sighed, much like she had earlier in front of the stairs that led to the kitchen. "It's a no go on the Extendable Ears. Mum's gone and put an Imperturable Charm on the door."

"How do you know?" George asked, sounding just as disappointed as Ginny.

"Tonks told me how to find out. You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs, and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."

"Extendable what?" Harry asked, certain he'd misheard. But, as was often the case for Harry in the magical world, his ears had not deceived him. The following conversation between the six of them included an explanation of Fred and George's latest invention, what they'd found out about the Order from listening in on meetings, explaining to Harry what the Order of the Phoenix was (Fred, George, and Ginny covered most of that one, as Ron and Hermione were still nervous about setting off Harry's temper), some family drama including Bill, who had apparently moved back to England and had been spending an awful lot of time with Fleur Delacour, and Percy's current estrangement from the Weasleys, a tense discussion about what the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet have been saying about Harry and Dumbledore, and finally ended the conversation telling Harry about how they've been 'keeping busy'.

"Basically, we've been doing chores 24/7," Ginny explained, not even trying to hide her bitterness.

"Aw, come on Gin, it's not been that bad," George disagreed.

"Well of course the two of you'd say that. Been knicking all sorts of stuff for your joke products, haven't you?"

"It really hasn't been a treat," Ron agreed, causing Ginny to smirk over at the twins.

Further conversation was ended with footsteps on the stairs. Fred and George tugged on their Extendable Ear and Apparated out of the room. It turned out to be a good call on their part, because a few seconds later Mrs. Weasley entered the room.

"Do any of you know who's left all those Dungbombs by the kitchen door?"

"Crookshanks," Ginny answered without batting an eye. "He loves to play with them." Harry stared at Ginny with barely concealed awe.

Mrs. Weasley nodded, her gaze moving from Ginny over to Harry. "The meeting's over." Harry quickly looked away from Ginny, not wanting her to get caught in her lie because of him. "You can all come down and have dinner now. Everyone's dying to see you Harry." Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stood up and made to follow Mrs. Weasley out the door. "Remember to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy! What have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner."

Once Mrs. Weasley turned to leave the room, Harry smirked at Ginny, who responded by sticking her tongue out at him before following her mother out of the room. There was a small jolt in Harry's stomach, and for what had to be the thousandth time that evening he was feeling confused about Ginny Weasley. One thing he was certain of, though, was that she definitely wasn't the same blushing little girl he'd known for years.

_**Alright, so the title of this story was basically just thought of randomly so I could post this story, and I don't really care for it. What does everyone think? Should I keep it? If any of you have title ideas, let me know. The only other ideas I have are "Including Ginny" or "Added Moments". Let me hear your thoughts.**_

_**~Jazz~**_


	3. The Rest of the Summer

_**_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters, places, or quotes I used from the books.**_**_

This chapter covers the rest of the summer. The chapters are Chapter Five, The Order of the Phoenix; Chapter Six, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black; and Chapter Nine, The Woes of Mrs. Weasley.

Ginny stood up and made to leave the kitchen, looking disappointed and upset. She was back to being the only person left out of the loop. Harry noticed this, and a pang of sympathy stabbed at his heart. Not a few short hours ago, he'd been in exactly her position. He caught her eye just before she turned towards the door and quickly mouthed, "Tell you later." A confused, but hopeful look crossed her face, and she gave him a small, grateful smile before her mother practically shoved her out the door.

This was a promise Harry was determined to keep. As he, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George were herded up the stairs by a visibly upset Mrs. Weasley a while later, an idea struck Harry when they were saying goodnight to Hermione.

"I want you all to go straight to bed, no talking," Mrs. Weasley had said as they reached the first landing. "We've got a busy day tomorrow."

Quickly and quietly, so no one would notice, Harry muttered to Hermione, "Go ahead and tell Ginny everything." At Hermione's surprised look, he added, "It's only fair." Understanding flashed in Hermione's eyes, and she nodded her agreement.

"I expect Ginny's asleep," Mrs. Weasley added to Hermione, "so try not to wake her up."

"Asleep, yea right," said Fred in an undertone after Hermione bade them goodnight and they were climbing to the next floor. "If Ginny's not lying awake waiting for Hermione to tell her everything they said downstairs then I'm a flobberworm."

The next few days consisted of, as Ginny had said, 24/7 chores, although Harry happened to find them interesting rather than annoying. They were certainly better than anything the Dursley's had ever had him do. Harry noticed that members of the Order would periodically drop in, and the four Weasley kids, Harry, and Hermione would stop working to try and hear what was going on while Mrs. Weasley was busy trying to shut up the angry portrait of Sirius's mother.

And indeed, Fred and George took every opportunity they could find to hide anything interesting in their pockets.

"We want to save as much of your… investment as we can," Fred explained one day when he noticed Harry smirking at the conspicuous bulges in the twins' jacket pockets.

"Smart," Harry agreed, laughter in his voice.

Too soon, however, it was the day before Harry's trial. He was nervous enough as it was when a realization hit him that added a layer of guilt to his already negative feelings.

He had been so busy worrying about his impending hearing that, when Ginny came down to breakfast on August 11th to a chorus of "Happy Birthday!" it was Harry who was taken completely by surprise.

Ginny was gracious about him forgetting, excusing him because he had 'more important things' on his mind, but he still noticed the hurt in her eyes. He wanted to slam his head on the table.

He felt even worse because they had become really good friends in the days since his arrival. Ginny had been so grateful to Harry for finally including her in things that she'd started going out of her way to help him with particularly difficult chores, and let him vent any frustrations he was feeling without judgment, no matter how ridiculous they were.

As they were doing their morning chores, minus Ginny who was excused for her birthday, Harry devised a plan.

When everyone broke for lunch around noon, Harry excused himself to his bedroom claiming a stomach ache.

"No, I don't think I need anything for it," Harry told a worried Mrs. Weasley. "I think I'll just go lie down for a little while."

Ignoring his growling stomach, Harry sat down at the desk in his and Ron's bedroom with a fresh sheet of parchment, his best eagle feather quill, and his rarely used bottle of color changing ink, pondering what he should write.

He rejoined the group a half hour later to resume chores, the piece of parchment folded neatly in the pocket of his jeans, where it would remain until just before dinner.

Harry ambushed Ginny as she was stepping off the stairs onto the ground floor and pulled her into the room he'd been waiting in. It was a dining room of sorts, its wallpaper seeming to be some sort of family tree.

"Harry, what-?"

"I wanted to talk to you in private," Harry explained. Ginny waited for him to continue, a look of curiosity on her face. "I, er, I just feel really bad about forgetting your birthday."

Her expression softened to understanding. "Harry, I already told you-"

Once again, however, she was cut off mid-sentence. "I know what you said, but still. I know how it feels when someone forgets your birthday." He looked away, uncomfortable with opening up so much. "I, er, wrote this for you, during lunch." He handed her the folded piece of parchment.

Before she had a chance to respond, Harry slipped out of the room, not wanting to see her face an dadd to his embarrassment when she opened his poem.

Ginny glanced down at the parchment in her hands, confused. Why would he want to have a birthday card be so private?

_Only one way to find out_, she decided, and opened it.

_Her eyes are as brown as a chocolate frog  
>Her hair is as red as a quaffle<br>Today is her birthday  
>And it slipped my mind<br>I hope she can one day forgive me_

Her face was in flames when she was done reading. How did he remember? She'd sent him that ridiculous Valentine's Day poem two and a half years ago! And he remembered it well enough to parody it into a birthday card/apology for her?

It took her a few minutes before she was composed enough to go into the dining room. Everyone else was already seated when she arrived.

"Finally, we can eat!" Ron exclaimed loudly when Ginny sat down between Hermione and Harry.

It was halfway through dinner when everyone else was distracted enough that Ginny could lean over to Harry without bringing attention to them.

"How the hell did you remember that?" Ginny asked, causing Harry to start at her unexpected proximity.

Deciding not to act embarrassed, Harry responded with, "Well, it was just such a special poem- ouch, joking." This time Harry was cut off when Ginny punched his leg, glaring. "I honestly don't know how I remembered it."

"Well, thanks. Of course I forgive you." He smiled at her, relieved, and she returned it, both returning to their meal in higher spirits.

By the end of the meal, however, Harry was back to feeling negative, thanks to the mention of his trial and the knowledge that had Dumbledore visited so close to the day of the hearing and hadn't asked to see Harry. As he left the dinner table everyone wished him good luck for tomorrow and told him they knew he'd win. With one last half-hearted, "Happy birthday," to Ginny, Harry left the kitchen and made his way upstairs, where he would lie awake for hours worrying about his future.

By the following afternoon, however, his worries proved worthless as he returned to Grimmauld Place in barely contained excitement.

Ginny was trying unsuccessfully to remove the hideous troll leg from the entryway (Mrs. Weasley insisted that if it wasn't there for Tonks to trip over, the portrait of Mrs. Black wouldn't be woken up quite as frequently) when Harry and Mr. Weasley entered the front door. She immediately stopped what she was doing and looked up impatiently.

Without giving either of them a chance to explain, she asked, "Well, how'd it go?"

A slow, excited grin broke over his face. "Cleared of all charges!"

Shrieking, Ginny launched herself at Harry unthinkingly, pulling him into a rib-crushing hug. Laughing, he squeezed her back for a moment before they both pulled away, each a little red in the face.

They followed Mr. Weasley into the kitchen, Harry barely noticing what he was doing. He was in complete shock. He was really going back to Hogwarts!

Everyone looked up when Harry entered, the same expressions on their faces that Ginny had had only moments ago. Seeing Ron and Hermione's anxious faces really hit Harry. He wouldn't have to sit by watching the two of them go to school, graduate, and become a fully trained wizard and witch.

Seeing Harry speechless, Ginny quickly shouted, "He got off!" which started up a strange sort of war-chant with her, Fred, and George, while Ron and Hermione quickly assured Harry that they had no doubt he would be cleared.

The last few weeks of summer were spent, on Harry's part, dreaming about leaving the depression of Grimmauld Place for the beautiful Hogwarts castle.

It wasn't until the last day of summer that his mood, so high and cheerful since the day of his hearing, was dampened once more.

Ron and Hermione were made prefects. Once again, they would be off together while Harry was left by himself. He couldn't stop himself from wondering why Dumbledore would make Ron a prefect over Harry.

It took a great deal of effort to act happy and supportive for his friends. He was thoroughly relieved when they'd left the room, Ron to go ask Mrs. Weasley for the newest Cleansweep, and Hermione to mail a letter to her parents.

He was almost finished with his packing when the door burst open, and Harry inwardly groaned that his solitude had been broken.

"Hey, did you lot get your-Oh, Harry! Where're Ron and Hermione?" Harry felt some of his annoyance leave when he realized it was Ginny who had entered the room, not Ron or Hermione, but it came back full-force with her question.

"Off basking in the glory of being named prefects, I suppose," he answered bitterly before he could hold back the words.

"Oh, wow," she responded, clearly stunned. "Ron?" Harry nodded wordlessly, avoiding Ginny's gaze as he continued to gather his things from the room. "I was betting on Dean and Parvati."

Harry whirled around, a by now familiar confused expression on his face. "Why?"

"Well think about it. The three of you are constantly in trouble. Neville doesn't quite have the … leadership skills to be a prefect. And I just think Dean and Parvati are a bit more suited than Seamus and Lavender."

Despite himself, Harry felt a small smirk tug at the corner of his mouth. "Are you sure your current relationship status didn't influence your bet?"

She glared at him, not bothering to respond. The truth was, she didn't like talking about her relationships with or around Harry. The fact that he was so care-free about it stung a bit. Couldn't he have the decency to be even the slightest bit jealous?

"Seriously, though, don't worry about the prefect thing. Dumbledore probably just thought you'd have enough to worry about this year without prefect duties too."

"Yea, maybe," Harry agreed, more to end the conversation than out of actual belief that her idea was right.

By the time the party started that night, however, Harry had managed to put himself into a better mood, and could honestly celebrate with his friends. The good humor lasted all the way until Moody showed Harry the picture of the original Order of the Phoenix. Then, unsurprisingly, he got angry. Why would he want to see a picture of people who died a few weeks after it was taken, including his own parents, all clueless to their doom?

Needless to say he took his leave of the party, tiptoeing up the stairs to the first floor landing, when a strange noise sounded from the direction of the drawing room. Someone was crying.

He crossed the landing and opened the door cautiously. "Hello?"

There was no answer but the sobbing continued. Someone was cowering against the dark wall, wand in hand, their whole body shaking with sobs. Sprawled on the dusty older carpet in a patch of moonlight, clearly dead, was Ginny.

He felt his heart drop to his stomach. How did this happen? Whoever did it would pay, he swore as a murderous rage consumed him.

But before he could demand answers from the sobbing figure in the corner, the person shouted, "R-r-riddikulus!" and Ginny's dead body suddenly became Ron's.

Relief such as Harry had never felt before washed over him, and he had to lean against the doorway for fear of collapsing. Ginny wasn't dead.

_But of course not, _a voice that sounded a lot like Hermione's rang in his head. _Ginny's downstairs!_ He suddenly felt very foolish. Why had he reacted so strongly to the idea of Ginny's death? Sure, they were friends, but he didn't think he would've felt that way if it had been Ron or Hermione lying there.

_Of course I would have!_ he disagreed with himself. Shaking his head, he cast away the puzzling thoughts as Mrs. Weasley continued to struggle with the boggart.

_Ginny is just a good friend, that's all,_ he swore to himself.

**_Something I feel I should elaborate on. In the books, Ginny was with Michael right now. But for my story, I need her to be with Dean at this point. That's the only reason I even wrote the prologue. Sorry about the confusion._**

**_~Jazz~_**

**_PS. I thought of a title I kind of like. "I Know How It Feels". Thoughts?_**

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